Debra L. Dodson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780198296744
- eISBN:
- 9780191603709
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296746.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
When the 1994 elections gave control of Congress to a conservative, Christian Coalition-dominated, Republican majority, what some had over-optimistically touted as a critical mass of women became a ...
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When the 1994 elections gave control of Congress to a conservative, Christian Coalition-dominated, Republican majority, what some had over-optimistically touted as a critical mass of women became a token group, notwithstanding a slight increase in numbers. Nowhere was that more evident than in the ability of that new Republican majority to re-define the agenda, raising new issues (Partial Birth Abortion Ban) and challenging seemingly non-controversial, bipartisan, well-established programs (funding for the Title X Family Planning program and international family planning programs). The continued evidence of the gender gap in prochoice support, along with the critical role played by the shrinking cohort of prochoice Republican women in challenging their leadership’s anti-reproductive rights agenda, reinforce the importance of increasing descriptive representation. Nevertheless, the gendered roles assumed by a growing vocal cohort of female Republican reproductive rights opponents, reluctance by some ostensibly prochoice Republican women to challenge their leadership, a shrinking gender gap in prochoice support within Congress, and the frustrations of those who attempted to fight these often futile battles, all highlight the critical role that institutional environments, increased ideological diversity among women, and extra-institutional forces play in shaping the probabilistic relationship between descriptive and substantive representation, in strengthening or weakening perceptions of legitimacy surrounding gender difference, and in defining and redefining the meaning of substantive representation of women and realizing the potential for difference. These case studies explore gender differences in perspectives of reproductive rights opponents, provide insight into the value of bipartisan support for reproductive rights policy agendas (despite Republicans being less prochoice than Democrats), and point to the important role of women voters in maintaining bipartisan support and political resolve.Less
When the 1994 elections gave control of Congress to a conservative, Christian Coalition-dominated, Republican majority, what some had over-optimistically touted as a critical mass of women became a token group, notwithstanding a slight increase in numbers. Nowhere was that more evident than in the ability of that new Republican majority to re-define the agenda, raising new issues (Partial Birth Abortion Ban) and challenging seemingly non-controversial, bipartisan, well-established programs (funding for the Title X Family Planning program and international family planning programs). The continued evidence of the gender gap in prochoice support, along with the critical role played by the shrinking cohort of prochoice Republican women in challenging their leadership’s anti-reproductive rights agenda, reinforce the importance of increasing descriptive representation. Nevertheless, the gendered roles assumed by a growing vocal cohort of female Republican reproductive rights opponents, reluctance by some ostensibly prochoice Republican women to challenge their leadership, a shrinking gender gap in prochoice support within Congress, and the frustrations of those who attempted to fight these often futile battles, all highlight the critical role that institutional environments, increased ideological diversity among women, and extra-institutional forces play in shaping the probabilistic relationship between descriptive and substantive representation, in strengthening or weakening perceptions of legitimacy surrounding gender difference, and in defining and redefining the meaning of substantive representation of women and realizing the potential for difference. These case studies explore gender differences in perspectives of reproductive rights opponents, provide insight into the value of bipartisan support for reproductive rights policy agendas (despite Republicans being less prochoice than Democrats), and point to the important role of women voters in maintaining bipartisan support and political resolve.
Fran Amery
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529204995
- eISBN:
- 9781529205404
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529204995.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
A common misunderstanding of the Abortion Act 1967 is that it granted women the ‘right’ to access abortion. In reality, there is no such thing; the current provision of abortion in the United Kingdom ...
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A common misunderstanding of the Abortion Act 1967 is that it granted women the ‘right’ to access abortion. In reality, there is no such thing; the current provision of abortion in the United Kingdom rests on a system in which doctors, not women, are the arbiters of abortion access. In recent years, calls for the full decriminalisation of abortion have been given a vigour not seen before. For the first time, MPs and medical associations have moved to back decriminalisation, in line with the demands of pro-choice campaigners across the UK. But at the same time, opponents are mobilising to undermine public faith in both the Abortion Act and abortion providers. In doing so, they have tended to set aside the classic ‘right to life’ arguments, instead focusing on issues such as sex-selective abortion and disability rights. This book makes sense of today’s changed landscape of abortion debate by tracing the evolution of political and parliamentary discourse on abortion from the passage of the Abortion Act in the 1960s to the present. It makes the case that to understand contemporary abortion politics, it is necessary to move beyond a conceptualisation of the debate as characterised by ‘pro-choice’ versus ‘pro-life’.Less
A common misunderstanding of the Abortion Act 1967 is that it granted women the ‘right’ to access abortion. In reality, there is no such thing; the current provision of abortion in the United Kingdom rests on a system in which doctors, not women, are the arbiters of abortion access. In recent years, calls for the full decriminalisation of abortion have been given a vigour not seen before. For the first time, MPs and medical associations have moved to back decriminalisation, in line with the demands of pro-choice campaigners across the UK. But at the same time, opponents are mobilising to undermine public faith in both the Abortion Act and abortion providers. In doing so, they have tended to set aside the classic ‘right to life’ arguments, instead focusing on issues such as sex-selective abortion and disability rights. This book makes sense of today’s changed landscape of abortion debate by tracing the evolution of political and parliamentary discourse on abortion from the passage of the Abortion Act in the 1960s to the present. It makes the case that to understand contemporary abortion politics, it is necessary to move beyond a conceptualisation of the debate as characterised by ‘pro-choice’ versus ‘pro-life’.
Dorothy McBride Stetson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242665
- eISBN:
- 9780191600258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242666.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Great Britain was the first country to reform its criminal abortion law with the Abortion Act of 1967, a law that was strict in form but liberal in practice. Active anti‐abortion forces sought to ...
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Great Britain was the first country to reform its criminal abortion law with the Abortion Act of 1967, a law that was strict in form but liberal in practice. Active anti‐abortion forces sought to turn back the 1967 reform, putting movement activists in a position to defend the law on the books, and little opportunity to seek greater rights for women with respect to the abortion decisions. With occasional help of women's policy agencies, the women's movement actors were successful in defending legal abortion through the 1990s. The key to their success was the openness of the policy process through private member bills in parliament and commitment of feminist MPs in the Labour party.Less
Great Britain was the first country to reform its criminal abortion law with the Abortion Act of 1967, a law that was strict in form but liberal in practice. Active anti‐abortion forces sought to turn back the 1967 reform, putting movement activists in a position to defend the law on the books, and little opportunity to seek greater rights for women with respect to the abortion decisions. With occasional help of women's policy agencies, the women's movement actors were successful in defending legal abortion through the 1990s. The key to their success was the openness of the policy process through private member bills in parliament and commitment of feminist MPs in the Labour party.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Abortion is—and always has been—an arena for contesting power relations between women and men. When in 1973 the Supreme Court made the procedure legal throughout the United States, it seemed that ...
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Abortion is—and always has been—an arena for contesting power relations between women and men. When in 1973 the Supreme Court made the procedure legal throughout the United States, it seemed that women were at last able to make decisions about their own bodies. In the four decades that followed, however, abortion became ever more politicized and stigmatized. Abortion after Roe chronicles and analyzes what the new legal status and changing political environment have meant for abortion providers and their patients. This book sheds light on the little-studied experience of performing and receiving abortion care from the 1970s—a period of optimism—to the rise of the antiabortion movement and the escalation of antiabortion tactics in the 1980s to the 1990s and beyond, when violent attacks on clinics and abortion providers led to a new articulation of abortion care as moral work. More than four decades after the legalization of abortion, the abortion provider community has powerfully asserted that abortion care is a moral good.Less
Abortion is—and always has been—an arena for contesting power relations between women and men. When in 1973 the Supreme Court made the procedure legal throughout the United States, it seemed that women were at last able to make decisions about their own bodies. In the four decades that followed, however, abortion became ever more politicized and stigmatized. Abortion after Roe chronicles and analyzes what the new legal status and changing political environment have meant for abortion providers and their patients. This book sheds light on the little-studied experience of performing and receiving abortion care from the 1970s—a period of optimism—to the rise of the antiabortion movement and the escalation of antiabortion tactics in the 1980s to the 1990s and beyond, when violent attacks on clinics and abortion providers led to a new articulation of abortion care as moral work. More than four decades after the legalization of abortion, the abortion provider community has powerfully asserted that abortion care is a moral good.
Sherie M. Randolph
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469623917
- eISBN:
- 9781469625119
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469623917.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter examines the ways in which Flo Kennedy brought her legal expertise and political knowledge to the campaign to repeal New York State’s restrictive abortion laws. She served as counsel for ...
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This chapter examines the ways in which Flo Kennedy brought her legal expertise and political knowledge to the campaign to repeal New York State’s restrictive abortion laws. She served as counsel for Abramowicz v. Lefkowitz, the first class-action suit in which women themselves insisted on their right to be heard. Coupling speak-outs and demonstrations with constitutional arguments, the case helped to convince the legislature to amend the law before it was settled in court. The tactics from this case would be used in Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 federal case that legalized abortion nationally. Although by the late 1960s she was one of the country’s best-known black feminists, her role in helping to legalize abortion has long since been forgotten.Less
This chapter examines the ways in which Flo Kennedy brought her legal expertise and political knowledge to the campaign to repeal New York State’s restrictive abortion laws. She served as counsel for Abramowicz v. Lefkowitz, the first class-action suit in which women themselves insisted on their right to be heard. Coupling speak-outs and demonstrations with constitutional arguments, the case helped to convince the legislature to amend the law before it was settled in court. The tactics from this case would be used in Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 federal case that legalized abortion nationally. Although by the late 1960s she was one of the country’s best-known black feminists, her role in helping to legalize abortion has long since been forgotten.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter discusses how the development of vacuum aspiration and the Roe v. Wade decision led to the establishment of freestanding abortion clinics. Abortion clinics followed one of two models: ...
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This chapter discusses how the development of vacuum aspiration and the Roe v. Wade decision led to the establishment of freestanding abortion clinics. Abortion clinics followed one of two models: (1) a medical model in which physicians emphasized the delivery of high quality medical services, contrasting their clinics with the back-alley abortion services that had sent many women to hospital emergency rooms prior to legalization, or (2) a feminist model in which clinics emphasized education and the dissemination of information to empower women patients and change the structure of women’s health care. Male physicians and feminists came together in the newly established abortion services and argued over the priorities and characteristics of health care delivery. A broad range of clinics emerged, from feminist clinics to medical offices run by traditional male physicians to for-profit clinics.Less
This chapter discusses how the development of vacuum aspiration and the Roe v. Wade decision led to the establishment of freestanding abortion clinics. Abortion clinics followed one of two models: (1) a medical model in which physicians emphasized the delivery of high quality medical services, contrasting their clinics with the back-alley abortion services that had sent many women to hospital emergency rooms prior to legalization, or (2) a feminist model in which clinics emphasized education and the dissemination of information to empower women patients and change the structure of women’s health care. Male physicians and feminists came together in the newly established abortion services and argued over the priorities and characteristics of health care delivery. A broad range of clinics emerged, from feminist clinics to medical offices run by traditional male physicians to for-profit clinics.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Social History
By the early 1980s, abortion providers moved from instillation procedures such as saline to Dilation and Evacuation [D&E]. This chapter traces the initial controversy surrounding D&E and the eventual ...
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By the early 1980s, abortion providers moved from instillation procedures such as saline to Dilation and Evacuation [D&E]. This chapter traces the initial controversy surrounding D&E and the eventual adoption of the procedure which made abortion services after the first trimester available on an outpatient basis and the experience of midtrimester abortion easier for patients. But the turn to D&E raised ethical and aesthetic concerns and abortion providers who sought to discuss their thoughts about their work quickly found their words used against them. By the mid-1980s, anti-abortion activists created abortion narratives that painted abortion providers as murderers, highlighted women’s regret over abortion, and offered gory descriptions of the abortion experience from the fetal perspective. These anti-abortion narratives silenced discussions within the abortion provider community and limited women’s ability to discuss their abortion experiences as positive. It stigmatized the procedure and those who participated in it.Less
By the early 1980s, abortion providers moved from instillation procedures such as saline to Dilation and Evacuation [D&E]. This chapter traces the initial controversy surrounding D&E and the eventual adoption of the procedure which made abortion services after the first trimester available on an outpatient basis and the experience of midtrimester abortion easier for patients. But the turn to D&E raised ethical and aesthetic concerns and abortion providers who sought to discuss their thoughts about their work quickly found their words used against them. By the mid-1980s, anti-abortion activists created abortion narratives that painted abortion providers as murderers, highlighted women’s regret over abortion, and offered gory descriptions of the abortion experience from the fetal perspective. These anti-abortion narratives silenced discussions within the abortion provider community and limited women’s ability to discuss their abortion experiences as positive. It stigmatized the procedure and those who participated in it.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The epilogue offers a brief overview of the history of legal abortion from the early 1970s to the 2000s. If patients and abortion providers could discuss their experience with abortion in positive ...
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The epilogue offers a brief overview of the history of legal abortion from the early 1970s to the 2000s. If patients and abortion providers could discuss their experience with abortion in positive terms in the 1970s, by the 1980s anti-abortion activism had stigmatized abortion. The fetus had been redefined as a baby and abortion as murder. Patients and abortion providers lost the space to talk in positive terms about their abortion experience. Despite the stigma attached to abortion care, however, abortion providers continued to argue that providing abortion services was moral and patients asserted their right to choose abortion and articulated their sense of relief.Less
The epilogue offers a brief overview of the history of legal abortion from the early 1970s to the 2000s. If patients and abortion providers could discuss their experience with abortion in positive terms in the 1970s, by the 1980s anti-abortion activism had stigmatized abortion. The fetus had been redefined as a baby and abortion as murder. Patients and abortion providers lost the space to talk in positive terms about their abortion experience. Despite the stigma attached to abortion care, however, abortion providers continued to argue that providing abortion services was moral and patients asserted their right to choose abortion and articulated their sense of relief.
Gerald O'Collins SJ and Mario Farrugia SJ
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199259946
- eISBN:
- 9780191602122
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199259941.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter begins by recalling several developments in Catholic moral teaching and practice (on usury, torture, and slavery), and then examines some distinctive Catholic moral convictions: about ...
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This chapter begins by recalling several developments in Catholic moral teaching and practice (on usury, torture, and slavery), and then examines some distinctive Catholic moral convictions: about respect for life, the sexual order, truth, justice, care for the needy, human dignity, and human rights. The chapter ends by proposing two fundamental principles for forming one’s moral conscience: the following of Christ and docility to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.Less
This chapter begins by recalling several developments in Catholic moral teaching and practice (on usury, torture, and slavery), and then examines some distinctive Catholic moral convictions: about respect for life, the sexual order, truth, justice, care for the needy, human dignity, and human rights. The chapter ends by proposing two fundamental principles for forming one’s moral conscience: the following of Christ and docility to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Penelope Deutscher
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231176415
- eISBN:
- 9780231544559
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231176415.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
In Foucault's Futures, Penelope Deutscher reconsiders the role of procreation in Foucault's thought, especially its proximity to risk, mortality, and death. She brings together his work on sexuality ...
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In Foucault's Futures, Penelope Deutscher reconsiders the role of procreation in Foucault's thought, especially its proximity to risk, mortality, and death. She brings together his work on sexuality and biopolitics to challenge our understanding of the politicization of reproduction. By analyzing Foucault's contribution to the politics of maternity and its influence on the work of thinkers such as Roberto Esposito, Giorgio Agamben, and Judith Butler, Deutscher provides new insights into the conflicted political status of reproductive conduct and what it means for feminism and critical theory.Less
In Foucault's Futures, Penelope Deutscher reconsiders the role of procreation in Foucault's thought, especially its proximity to risk, mortality, and death. She brings together his work on sexuality and biopolitics to challenge our understanding of the politicization of reproduction. By analyzing Foucault's contribution to the politics of maternity and its influence on the work of thinkers such as Roberto Esposito, Giorgio Agamben, and Judith Butler, Deutscher provides new insights into the conflicted political status of reproductive conduct and what it means for feminism and critical theory.
Sherry F. Colb and Michael C. Dorf
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231175142
- eISBN:
- 9780231540957
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231175142.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
How can someone who condemns hunting, animal farming, and animal experimentation also favor legal abortion, which is the deliberate destruction of a human fetus? The authors of Beating Hearts aim to ...
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How can someone who condemns hunting, animal farming, and animal experimentation also favor legal abortion, which is the deliberate destruction of a human fetus? The authors of Beating Hearts aim to reconcile this apparent conflict and examine the surprisingly similar strategic and tactical questions faced by activists in the pro-life and animal rights movements. Beating Hearts maintains that sentience, or the ability to have subjective experiences, grounds a being’s entitlement to moral concern. The authors argue that nearly all human exploitation of animals is unjustified. Early abortions do not contradict the sentience principle because they precede fetal sentience, and Beating Hearts explains why the mere potential for sentience does not create moral entitlements. Late abortions do raise serious moral questions, but forcing a woman to carry a child to term is problematic as a form of gender-based exploitation. These ethical explorations lead to a wider discussion of the strategies deployed by the pro-life and animal rights movements. Should legal reforms precede or follow attitudinal changes? Do gory images win over or alienate supporters? Is violence ever principled? By probing the connections between debates about abortion and animal rights, Beating Hearts uses each highly contested set of questions to shed light on the other.Less
How can someone who condemns hunting, animal farming, and animal experimentation also favor legal abortion, which is the deliberate destruction of a human fetus? The authors of Beating Hearts aim to reconcile this apparent conflict and examine the surprisingly similar strategic and tactical questions faced by activists in the pro-life and animal rights movements. Beating Hearts maintains that sentience, or the ability to have subjective experiences, grounds a being’s entitlement to moral concern. The authors argue that nearly all human exploitation of animals is unjustified. Early abortions do not contradict the sentience principle because they precede fetal sentience, and Beating Hearts explains why the mere potential for sentience does not create moral entitlements. Late abortions do raise serious moral questions, but forcing a woman to carry a child to term is problematic as a form of gender-based exploitation. These ethical explorations lead to a wider discussion of the strategies deployed by the pro-life and animal rights movements. Should legal reforms precede or follow attitudinal changes? Do gory images win over or alienate supporters? Is violence ever principled? By probing the connections between debates about abortion and animal rights, Beating Hearts uses each highly contested set of questions to shed light on the other.
Gary Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097652
- eISBN:
- 9781526109712
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097652.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
The aim of this book is to assess the quarter century of political competition in the Republic of Ireland from the time of the ending of recession of the 1980s up to the 2011 general election where ...
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The aim of this book is to assess the quarter century of political competition in the Republic of Ireland from the time of the ending of recession of the 1980s up to the 2011 general election where Ireland was ruled by the Troika and austerity was a by-word for both policy making and how many people lived their lives. This book assesses in a thematic way the forces which shaped the decisions that political elites in Ireland took over the course of this crucial quarter century in modern Irish life. It examines the nature of electoral competition in modern Ireland by focusing on a number of key themes that shaped the decisions of Irish politicians. These include the nature of coalition politics in Ireland; the payments to politicians by developers and businessmen that led to a number of tribunals of inquiry; the culture wars over divorce and abortion; the process of the economic collapse to boom and back to collapse cycle that effected the lives of so many Irish people; and the collapse of Ireland's natural party of government, Fianna Fáil. It analyses why Irish citizens have been comfortable in continuing to vote for traditional political elites despite the failures of the Irish state and explains why it has been so difficult for new parties to emerge.Less
The aim of this book is to assess the quarter century of political competition in the Republic of Ireland from the time of the ending of recession of the 1980s up to the 2011 general election where Ireland was ruled by the Troika and austerity was a by-word for both policy making and how many people lived their lives. This book assesses in a thematic way the forces which shaped the decisions that political elites in Ireland took over the course of this crucial quarter century in modern Irish life. It examines the nature of electoral competition in modern Ireland by focusing on a number of key themes that shaped the decisions of Irish politicians. These include the nature of coalition politics in Ireland; the payments to politicians by developers and businessmen that led to a number of tribunals of inquiry; the culture wars over divorce and abortion; the process of the economic collapse to boom and back to collapse cycle that effected the lives of so many Irish people; and the collapse of Ireland's natural party of government, Fianna Fáil. It analyses why Irish citizens have been comfortable in continuing to vote for traditional political elites despite the failures of the Irish state and explains why it has been so difficult for new parties to emerge.
Ruth Fletcher
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719099465
- eISBN:
- 9781526104410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719099465.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
This chapter argues that debates about conscientious objection in health care would benefit from distinguishing clearly between two distinct sets of issues 1) who qualifies for conscientious ...
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This chapter argues that debates about conscientious objection in health care would benefit from distinguishing clearly between two distinct sets of issues 1) who qualifies for conscientious objection and 2) how conscientious objection ought to be limited in order to prevent harm to others. It argues that institutions (e.g. hospitals) and indirect participants (e.g. pregnancy counselors) ought not qualify for conscientious objection but for different reasons. Institutions ought not qualify because they do not have the kind of critical moral consciousness which is necessary to ground a right to conscientious objection. Indirect participants ought not qualify for two reasons: first, denying someone pre or post abortion care is harmful in discriminating against receivers of lawful abortion care and is more than is necessary for the protection of objectors’ moral integrity and secondly, information about pregnancy and abortion care will not necessarily lead to an abortion and after care cannot prevent abortion. In this way the chapter proposes that Irish debates about conscientious objection in a healthcare context need to move beyond a consideration of the powers of religiously run hospitals and towards a rights based method of assessing conscientious objection in light of the need to recognise moral integrity and prevent harm.Less
This chapter argues that debates about conscientious objection in health care would benefit from distinguishing clearly between two distinct sets of issues 1) who qualifies for conscientious objection and 2) how conscientious objection ought to be limited in order to prevent harm to others. It argues that institutions (e.g. hospitals) and indirect participants (e.g. pregnancy counselors) ought not qualify for conscientious objection but for different reasons. Institutions ought not qualify because they do not have the kind of critical moral consciousness which is necessary to ground a right to conscientious objection. Indirect participants ought not qualify for two reasons: first, denying someone pre or post abortion care is harmful in discriminating against receivers of lawful abortion care and is more than is necessary for the protection of objectors’ moral integrity and secondly, information about pregnancy and abortion care will not necessarily lead to an abortion and after care cannot prevent abortion. In this way the chapter proposes that Irish debates about conscientious objection in a healthcare context need to move beyond a consideration of the powers of religiously run hospitals and towards a rights based method of assessing conscientious objection in light of the need to recognise moral integrity and prevent harm.
John Keown
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199589555
- eISBN:
- 9780191741036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199589555.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, Medical Law
This chapter considers the scope of the crime of child destruction, contrary to section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. The section punishes the destruction of a child “capable of being ...
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This chapter considers the scope of the crime of child destruction, contrary to section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. The section punishes the destruction of a child “capable of being born alive”. The chapter considers three competing interpretations of this phrase. The first would protect any unborn child which would be capable after birth of exhibiting any sign of life. The second would protect only viable unborn children. The third would limit protection to the child in the process of delivery. Drawing on the parliamentary debates and contemporary Home Office materials, the chapter suggests that the middle interpretation is the most plausible. It concludes by raising the question, in the light of the relaxation of the law by the Abortion Act 1967 and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, whether the law, by attaching moral significance to viability and birth, is ethically defensible.Less
This chapter considers the scope of the crime of child destruction, contrary to section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. The section punishes the destruction of a child “capable of being born alive”. The chapter considers three competing interpretations of this phrase. The first would protect any unborn child which would be capable after birth of exhibiting any sign of life. The second would protect only viable unborn children. The third would limit protection to the child in the process of delivery. Drawing on the parliamentary debates and contemporary Home Office materials, the chapter suggests that the middle interpretation is the most plausible. It concludes by raising the question, in the light of the relaxation of the law by the Abortion Act 1967 and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, whether the law, by attaching moral significance to viability and birth, is ethically defensible.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Social History
In 1975, Kenneth Edelin, an African American obstetrician-gynecologist at Boston City Hospital, was indicted for manslaughter for performing a legal abortion. The chapter explores the emerging ...
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In 1975, Kenneth Edelin, an African American obstetrician-gynecologist at Boston City Hospital, was indicted for manslaughter for performing a legal abortion. The chapter explores the emerging debates about the meaning of abortion, the fetus, and viability. Charges that BCH was conducting fetal research lay behind the indictment of Edelin and complicated the performance of abortion procedures. Abortion politics shaped the discussion and formulation of policies governing questions of viability and bioethics considerations of fetal research. By the late 1970s, abortion providers feared indictments for manslaughter if a fetus delivered as a result of abortion still showed signs of life. The live-born fetus had emerged as a complication of abortion.Less
In 1975, Kenneth Edelin, an African American obstetrician-gynecologist at Boston City Hospital, was indicted for manslaughter for performing a legal abortion. The chapter explores the emerging debates about the meaning of abortion, the fetus, and viability. Charges that BCH was conducting fetal research lay behind the indictment of Edelin and complicated the performance of abortion procedures. Abortion politics shaped the discussion and formulation of policies governing questions of viability and bioethics considerations of fetal research. By the late 1970s, abortion providers feared indictments for manslaughter if a fetus delivered as a result of abortion still showed signs of life. The live-born fetus had emerged as a complication of abortion.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Social History
In 1976, abortion providers came together to establish the National Abortion Federation. NAF members came from a broad range of different backgrounds. Now they gathered to negotiate the goals and ...
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In 1976, abortion providers came together to establish the National Abortion Federation. NAF members came from a broad range of different backgrounds. Now they gathered to negotiate the goals and directions of the new organization and formulate a set of standards for abortion care. Chapter four analyzes these negotiations. While clinics following the medical model placed high priority on professionalism, feminist clinics argued that professionalism established hierarchies between abortion providers and patients and sought to provide services with lay personnel instead. A 1978 expose on substandard abortion clinics in Chicago drew attention to the need for clinic regulations and their enforcement and prompted NAF to establish regular inspections of member clinics. While the tensions between professional medical services and feminist clinics remained, NAF members agreed on a set of principles to guide abortion care.Less
In 1976, abortion providers came together to establish the National Abortion Federation. NAF members came from a broad range of different backgrounds. Now they gathered to negotiate the goals and directions of the new organization and formulate a set of standards for abortion care. Chapter four analyzes these negotiations. While clinics following the medical model placed high priority on professionalism, feminist clinics argued that professionalism established hierarchies between abortion providers and patients and sought to provide services with lay personnel instead. A 1978 expose on substandard abortion clinics in Chicago drew attention to the need for clinic regulations and their enforcement and prompted NAF to establish regular inspections of member clinics. While the tensions between professional medical services and feminist clinics remained, NAF members agreed on a set of principles to guide abortion care.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The escalation of anti-abortion violence and killing of abortion providers and clinic staff in the early 1990s raised tensions within the abortion provider community. Frustrated with what they ...
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The escalation of anti-abortion violence and killing of abortion providers and clinic staff in the early 1990s raised tensions within the abortion provider community. Frustrated with what they perceived as inadequate support, NAF members began to leave the organization and established the November Gang and the National Coalition of Abortion Providers. Much smaller than NAF and made up of mostly independent clinics, both the November Gang and NCAP encouraged more open conversations about the difficult questions in abortion care such as the role of violence and fetal death. Members of the November Gang also introduced head and heart counselling to offer women greater support as they dealt with the increasing stigmatization of abortion. The development of intact D&E and debate of the so-called partial birth abortion ban further increased tensions in the abortion provider community as abortion providers and their supporters disagreed over whether and how to defend intact D&E procedures. When the US Supreme Court decision upheld the ban of intact D&E in its decision Gonzales v. Carhart, anti-abortion activists had, for the first time, successfully banned an abortion procedure. Despite these developments, patients continued to affirm their right to choose abortion.Less
The escalation of anti-abortion violence and killing of abortion providers and clinic staff in the early 1990s raised tensions within the abortion provider community. Frustrated with what they perceived as inadequate support, NAF members began to leave the organization and established the November Gang and the National Coalition of Abortion Providers. Much smaller than NAF and made up of mostly independent clinics, both the November Gang and NCAP encouraged more open conversations about the difficult questions in abortion care such as the role of violence and fetal death. Members of the November Gang also introduced head and heart counselling to offer women greater support as they dealt with the increasing stigmatization of abortion. The development of intact D&E and debate of the so-called partial birth abortion ban further increased tensions in the abortion provider community as abortion providers and their supporters disagreed over whether and how to defend intact D&E procedures. When the US Supreme Court decision upheld the ban of intact D&E in its decision Gonzales v. Carhart, anti-abortion activists had, for the first time, successfully banned an abortion procedure. Despite these developments, patients continued to affirm their right to choose abortion.
Johanna Schoen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469621180
- eISBN:
- 9781469623344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469621180.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The introduction briefly chronicles women’s reproductive experiences prior to the legalization of abortion and situates the legalization of abortion into the context of the emerging women’s health ...
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The introduction briefly chronicles women’s reproductive experiences prior to the legalization of abortion and situates the legalization of abortion into the context of the emerging women’s health movement. It offers a brief overview of the state-by-state legalization of abortion and of the US Supreme Court decisions that followed the 1973 Roe v Wade decision. It concludes with a discussion of the challenges of writing the history of a medical procedure as stigmatized and politicized as legal abortion.Less
The introduction briefly chronicles women’s reproductive experiences prior to the legalization of abortion and situates the legalization of abortion into the context of the emerging women’s health movement. It offers a brief overview of the state-by-state legalization of abortion and of the US Supreme Court decisions that followed the 1973 Roe v Wade decision. It concludes with a discussion of the challenges of writing the history of a medical procedure as stigmatized and politicized as legal abortion.
Françoise Vergès
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781789620665
- eISBN:
- 9781789623666
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789620665.003.0029
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
In 1971, French white male doctors were found not-guilty of having practiced thousands of abortions and sterilizations without consent upon poor women of color in Reunion Island, a French overseas ...
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In 1971, French white male doctors were found not-guilty of having practiced thousands of abortions and sterilizations without consent upon poor women of color in Reunion Island, a French overseas territory. I analyze why, though it was still a crime severely punished in France, abortion was encouraged by the State in a French ‘postcolony’ and why the French Women’s Liberation Movement, despite being aware of the scandal, never confronted the dual politics of the State nor sought to understand what it meant for their struggle for rights. I see in this blindness the legacy of an indifference connected to what Aimé Césaire called the ‘shock in return’ of slavery and colonialism onto Europe, which has shaped even progressive movements such as feminism. I conclude that ‘the situation of poor and non-white women in overseas territories was ignored because it did not fit the narrative of a universal patriarchy that treated women in a similar way despite their race, ethnicity, age, ability, sexuality and class. The struggles of overseas feminist movements were also ignored because they did not fit the narrative of European women’s struggle for emancipation: they insisted too much on colonialism and anti-racism’.Less
In 1971, French white male doctors were found not-guilty of having practiced thousands of abortions and sterilizations without consent upon poor women of color in Reunion Island, a French overseas territory. I analyze why, though it was still a crime severely punished in France, abortion was encouraged by the State in a French ‘postcolony’ and why the French Women’s Liberation Movement, despite being aware of the scandal, never confronted the dual politics of the State nor sought to understand what it meant for their struggle for rights. I see in this blindness the legacy of an indifference connected to what Aimé Césaire called the ‘shock in return’ of slavery and colonialism onto Europe, which has shaped even progressive movements such as feminism. I conclude that ‘the situation of poor and non-white women in overseas territories was ignored because it did not fit the narrative of a universal patriarchy that treated women in a similar way despite their race, ethnicity, age, ability, sexuality and class. The struggles of overseas feminist movements were also ignored because they did not fit the narrative of European women’s struggle for emancipation: they insisted too much on colonialism and anti-racism’.
Fran Amery
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529204995
- eISBN:
- 9781529205404
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529204995.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter gives a brief overview of the current terrain of abortion debate in the UK, covering calls for decriminalisation as well as debates on sex-selection, disability and pre-abortion ...
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This chapter gives a brief overview of the current terrain of abortion debate in the UK, covering calls for decriminalisation as well as debates on sex-selection, disability and pre-abortion counselling. It argues that the classic image of abortion politics as a war between ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ actors cannot adequately accommodate these recent developments – nor does it fit with how abortion debates have actually unfolded in Britain historically. Instead, it offers an interpretation of abortion law as resting on a coalition between government and medical actors formed to govern women’s reproductive decisions. The chapter closes with an overview of the book.Less
This chapter gives a brief overview of the current terrain of abortion debate in the UK, covering calls for decriminalisation as well as debates on sex-selection, disability and pre-abortion counselling. It argues that the classic image of abortion politics as a war between ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ actors cannot adequately accommodate these recent developments – nor does it fit with how abortion debates have actually unfolded in Britain historically. Instead, it offers an interpretation of abortion law as resting on a coalition between government and medical actors formed to govern women’s reproductive decisions. The chapter closes with an overview of the book.
